School of Trades Offers Students a Head Start in their Careers

Prairie Rose Public Schools (PRPS) started the School of Trades this year with Grade 10 students from four schools enrolled. In total, four students from Foremost School, four from Senator Gershaw, 30 from Eagle Butte and 11 from South Central have taken part in the new program. Part of year one is attending full-day introductory sessions in seven different trades at Medicine Hat College (MHC). For South Central students, this means catching the bus at 6:45 a.m. and not returning to Oyen until 5 p.m. or later.  

South Central High School has 11 students – 2 female and 9 male – taking part in the program with another 16 enrolled for next year. Although they have the longest commute, students feel it has been a valuable addition to their high school classes and are grateful for the chance to jumpstart their careers.  

Aside from classes at MHC, this year is about students experiencing different job sites. A field trip Eagle Butte students participated in was at Davis GMC Buick where they experienced different aspects of the dealership, including the automotive service technician area. Additionally, the students spent time with someone from human resources who offered interview advice along with explaining different pathways a student could take in automotives.  

Sherry Craven, Student Experience Designer for the School of Trades explained, “next year they choose a cluster, picking one cluster of two trades and they will get equal time, four labs, in each of the two trades. I am also including job shadowing in combination with the classes and each student should also be trying to find an apprenticeship position. They can build most of their hours between Grade 11 and 12 during their summer off. Between Grade 10 and 11, we already have a couple of students who have placements and can start earning their hours.”  

Alyssa Kulyk from South Central has always preferred working with her hands and finds sitting in a classroom a struggle. With many family members and friends having careers in various trades, along with growing up on a farm, Kulyk is aware of how much those working in the trades contribute.  

“They are proud of me for getting into a group of people who are mostly men and not being afraid to get my opinion out there. Many of them say females pay more attention to detail,” stated Kulyk. “It’s been great to explore all the different trades, and we’ve experienced things that are helpful. In heavy duty, we pulled apart a jack for a trailer. Two weeks earlier, the jack on our trailer broke and it would have been great to have the skill then, but it’s also good to know now so I can fix it in the future.” 

Dawn Peers, Principal of South Central, accompanies the students to the college and is excited for this first cohort of students. “I have a bunch of boys of my own who have gone through trades programs and are loving their lives and careers. These kids are on the path to do that as well,” said Peers. “We don’t have the staff to provide a large range of options; we needed something like this because we don’t have that availability. They work with the same instructors my kids had when they went through trades and it’s great to see the female students taking part. There are some female instructors (at MHC) and it’s been amazing for them to see that as well.” 

Dexter Miller wants to focus on both types of automotive training next year. “I am going to take over my dad’s farm. If I am a heavy-duty mechanic, I can fix my own equipment. It’s been good, when we go to the college, we learn what to do in each specific trade. So far, we’ve experienced welding, electrical, heavy-duty mechanic, and pipe fitting is this Friday.”  

Torynn Ophein, who aims to become a welder, wanted “opportunities out of high school, it gives me a whole bunch of different trades I could do. It’s a lot more (training) than I thought we would get with everything we’ve been doing. I thought it would be more casual, but we are hands-on in the labs.” 

There are different ways a student can approach the program to suit their goals and schedules. If they fast-track, a student can obtain their high school diploma and their year one certification in their chosen trade. “Trades are a four-year program,” explained Craven. “Students can come out with year one, making them highly employable and already gives them a bump in their wages.” 

There is also flexibility to when a student can enter the School of Trades, it doesn’t have to be in Grade 10. “Just taking the introductory classes alone, they are learning many skills and it’s making them more employable. It is amazing what they can do in one day,” stated Craven. “To watch them at the beginning of a welding lab, students who’ve never held a welding torch before are making pieces of art by the end of one day, such as cool flowers out of bolts and bicycles with wheels that turn.”  

By Samantha Johnson, Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer